Cars pulled from snowblocked roads

Scotland winter weather Scottish Borders was hit by the first substantial snowfall of 2016.''The A697 near Lauder , where cars were stopped and struggling to drive along sections of the road.''PHIL WILKINSON PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO'info@philwilkinson.net'www.philwilkinson.net'01316186373 - 07740444373

Jim Milnes

There was chaos on the region’s roads yesterday (Tuesday February 16) with Borders Search and Rescue rescuing a dozen drivers from snowblocked roads after they ignored ‘road closed’ signs.

Rescuers led a five-hour operation to dig out vehicles trapped on a single track road between Whiteadder reservoir and Garvald.

Despite ‘Road Closed’ signs being in place, some motorists ignored the warnings, following their GPS advice instead.

A spokesperson for the search and rescue team said around 12 cars, vans and lorries became stuck in the snow.

He said: “The team was called out o help rescue about 12 cars and vans and lorries stuck in large snow drifts between the Whiteadder reservoir and Garvald.

“This included two small lorries and a number of vans, all stuck on the single track road. Mostly following their satnavs to get past the closed A1.

“Eight team members and the three teams 4x4 ambulances deployed and with the assistance of a local farmer, managed to get all vehicles free and everybody to safety by about 2355 hrs.”

The situation was compounded by the A1 suffering huge delays yesterday after two lorries blew over on the southbound carriageway It is the second time this month that HGVs have been blown over on the stretch of A1 north of Dunbar.